Vance criticises Israeli parliament vote on West Bank annexation

President Donald Trump reportedly said that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank would not occur, which would make it look like a “stupid political stunt” for Israeli lawmakers.

Israeli lawmakers on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to a bill that would impose Israeli law on the West Bank, making it equivalent to the annexation of a region that Palestinian leaders want to a future independent state.

Vance responded to questions from reporters about the vote on Thursday, saying, “If it was a political stunt, it is very stupid, and I personally take some insults to it.”

Vance addressed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio after he warned that Trump’s plan to end Israel’s war on Gaza, which has already produced a shaky ceasefire, could be hampered by steps toward annexing the territory, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israel won’t annexe the West Bank, they say. The West Bank will not be annexed, according to President Trump’s plan. At the conclusion of a two-day visit to Israel, Vance declared, “This will always be our policy”.

The far-right Noam party’s leader, Avi Maoz, and ultranationalists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, both supported the vote. Out of 120 lawmakers, 25 to 24 approved the reading.

Later, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the vote was part of Vance’s “deliberate political provocation” and intended to “sow division.”

The far-right Likud party of Netanyahu, which added that without its support, attempts to enact an annexation of the West Bank “were unafraid to go anywhere,” said the party’s far-right party.

However, according to observers, Israel is slowly expanding its illegal settlements on Palestinian land, leading to de facto annexation throughout the West Bank.

In occupied East Jerusalem and settlements in the West Bank, there are more than 700,000 Israelis.

International law prohibits all of Israel’s settlements. The UN’s International Court of Justice ruled in 2024 that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, and its settlements there should be ended as soon as possible.

Far-right activists have also encouraged settlers to launch attacks on Palestinians, their lands, and their properties. Israeli settlers frequently armed and supported by Israeli soldiers as they storm Palestinian villages, cut up olive trees, burn homes and vehicles, and assault residents with almost total impunity.

Rights groups claim that the Israeli army frequently actively guards or assists those responsible for settler violence and rarely intervenes to stop it.

Since Israel began its occupation of Gaza on October 7, 2023, more than 1, 000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank, according to the UN. Due to Israeli settlement attacks, movement restrictions, and home demolitions, thousands of Palestinians were forced to flee.

In contrast to the same period last year, the first half of 2025 saw a 13% increase in casualties or property damage in the first half of that year, according to the UN.

Israeli forces have also detained thousands of Palestinians and increased their violent incursions into Palestinian towns and villages.

In particular, Israel’s unprecedented mass displacement resulted from its attack on the refugee camps in Tulkarem, Tulkarem, Nur Shams, Far’a, and Nablus.

The Trump administration has a lot of influence over Israel’s leadership, and the US has long been its most powerful and steadfast ally.

Netanyahu has repeatedly opposed statehood for Palestine. His cabinet appeared to have shelved the idea of annexation after Trump objected last month, suggesting it was a response to major Western allies’ recent recognition of a Palestinian state to pressure Israel to end its devastating war in Gaza.

After two years of fighting, senior White House officials and Jared Kushner, the son of Donald Trump, have been traveling to Israel to support the 13-day-old truce between Israel and Hamas. Since October 2023, Israel’s attacks on the enclave have claimed the lives of more than 68 000 Palestinians, caused significant land destruction, and caused the displacement of the Strip’s 2.1 million residents.

According to the US Department of State, Rubio made a trip to Israel on Thursday to support Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza. The enclave’s eventual reconstruction, stable governance, and potential steps toward Palestinian statehood are all mentioned in the plan.

Source: Aljazeera